Charles Beckendorf, Son of Hephaestus
by tostormorfiretheworldmustfall
Summary: What happened to Charles Beckendorf, son of Hephaestus, the first known demigod casualty of the Titan War?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One: The Styx**

The last thing I saw was green. Greek fire, everywhere, engulfing _dracanae__, _disintigrating telkhines on the spot. Oddly, it was a thing of beauty. When the tongues of flame came into contact with me, I screamed an ear-piercing scream. It seemed to go on forever. When will this end? Logically, I know it was only a few seconds, though it felt like an eternity until the _Princess Andromeda _sunk into the depths of the ocean.

Charon, the ferryman, took me straight onto the boat. I guess he felt sorry for me, because he didn't ask me for a coin, which was a relief, because I don't usually keep drachmas in my pocket just in cause I take a trip to the Underworld. Call me crazy, but I like to be optimistic.

Woah. Lost my train of thought. The River Styx _definitely _wasn't what I expected. Sure, I know it's where all broken and lost dreams go, but I was expecting something a little more... formidable. The thing about the Styx is that if you bathe in it, and don't die, of course, your body is impervious to any sort of attack. You're basically invincible. That's what Achilles did.

It's like the world's best body armour, and being a son of Hephaestus, that sort of thing appeals to me. The idea, of course, is crazy. I would never do it, but seeing as it's so famous, and so dangerous, you'd think it would be spewing flames or bright red with lava or something. But it's a murky grey, like everything else in the Underworld. Broken china, rusted armour, torn manuscripts, anything you can dream of is in here, but it's all broken. Really welcomes you into the Underworld, right? Hey, you just died! And as if that experience wasn't depressing enough, here's the River Styx! Careful, don't touch it, you'll die!

Great. Just great.

I suppose it's not all bad, though. Sure, I've died, but it was for a noble cause. So I don't regret my decision. I saved Percy, who will be the child of the prophecy. I know it.

"End of the line," Charon whispers eerily.

I step off the boat, take a deep breath, and face the Hall of Judgement.

Alright, Beckendorf. Get moving.


	2. Chapter 2

"He sacrificed himself for a friend!"

"Yes, but he killed many others in the process!"

"Those 'others' were demons! They were coming here anyway!"

I sighed. This had been going on for about five minutes now.

"Look, can we just get it over with? I'm tired of standing here!" I said, exasperated. I was nervous when I first came in, but watching ancient ghosts quarrel over my fate failed to frighten me, somehow. It was more irritating than nerve-wracking.

And suddenly, every eye was on me.

"I say Fields of Asphodel!" shrieked one judge.

"Fields of Punishment!" another one contested. The two quarrelled for a while, until another apparition interrupted.

"What say you, Minos?"

The ghost in question, Minos, was fiddling with the hem of his robe. "Hm?" he asked absently, looking up. He looked me up and down, a scowl of contempt clear on his face. I instantly disliked him, and Percy surely would too. "Oh, well..." he began. "He did help prevent an invasion of New York City, he saved a friend... yes, yes... and he was a friendly face around camp... I say Elysium for the boy. All in favour?"

This guy Minos was clearly the top ghost-man around here, so despite the arguments that took place before, every spectral hand rose into the air, albeit some a little hesitantly.

"Well, then," Minos said, rubbing his hands together, "I believe we're done here. The boy goes to Elysium."

Suddenly I was feeling slightly warmer towards the guy. I mean, he can't be all bad, right?

Before I could decide whether or not he was in fact nice, I was marched out of the large hall and out into the Underworld.

I couldn't believe that Percy and Annabeth survived this place.

**A/N: I'm so sorry that these chapters are so short and I'm taking so long to update, but I think these things should be separated! And also, I have a facebook fan page, go like it! pages/Camp-Half-Blood/492924994076512?fref=ts**


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